


What would you do if I didn't come back?

by whiffingbooks



Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [24]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiffingbooks/pseuds/whiffingbooks
Summary: Prompt — What would you do if I didn't come back?Harry and Ginny post war.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859185
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	What would you do if I didn't come back?

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya people!
> 
> I was posting the prompt requests on Tumblr, but I am having a bit of a problem tracking down the posts. So, I thought, "Why not post them on AO3?"  
> So, voila!

"What would you do if I didn't come back?"

Ginny's hands froze in Harry's hair. She could feel him stiffen, either in fear or regret, but that didn't register in her mind.

"Why would you ask me that?" Her voice trembled. She became aware of the twig digging into her back that she didn't before.

Harry sat up, his face regretful about saying the words. It was a beautiful day, a rarity after the week-long gloom. They were lying under Ginny's favourite apple tree, far away from the prying eyes of her brothers. In the quiet of the orchard, it was hard to imagine the war had taken place a mere month ago. 

It was one of the best days they had and he had to ruin it by asking a nonsensical question.

"I didn't - just forget it." He smiled weakly, but it did nothing to calm her.

"Why?" She insisted, a lump rising in her throat. 

He dusted off his jeans, not looking into her eyes as he did so. He looked ready to bolt.

"Harry." She wasn't going to let him off the hook. They had picked right off from where they left off. They had talked, but Harry didn't raise the topic of his death until then. He hadn't told her much, especially not about him coming back to life. She was not going to pass off this opportunity.

He kept quiet for a long time. Slowly, he turned towards her and took her hands in his. He fixed her with an intense stare. She never knew his eyes could become such a dark green when he was serious.

"What would you do if I didn't come back?" 

"Were you not going to?" She braced herself. She didn't like thinking about him, lifeless in Hagrid's arms, but the nightmares forced her to see it every night. She worried herself by thinking constantly that he wasn't happy. He had looked so drawn and tired for weeks after the war. Ron reassured once that she was being a bint and overthinking, but she couldn't stop thinking.

"For a while, I thought..." His eyes became unfocused. "I saw my parents."

"You did?" She was surprised. Was he hallucinating when he went to meet Voldemort in the forest? He didn't mention it before.

"I did. Because of the Resurrection Stone. I'll tell you everything about it," he said upon seeing her confused face. "I nearly went with them. Sirius was there. Remus, too. I wanted to...go on."

"What stopped you?" She asked, scared of his answer, but she needed to know.

"You did." 

Her hands shook in his. "What?" She asked, hoarsely.

"I saw you. Just before he fired the Killing Curse towards me. I thought about you, brighter than anything. You were smiling and I was too. A memory of the happiest day I've ever spent. You gave me the strength. And when I was given the choice, I knew I couldn't leave."

Tears filled her vision. 

"Harry..." She sniffed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you cry." He rubbed circles over her knuckles.

"I wouldn't have been able to let go. If you had died," she gulped, wiping away the tears, "I don't know what I would have done, but I wouldn't have been able to let go. You would've haunted me and I would have welcomed it because...because I love you."

"Ginny," Harry said, thunderstruck.

Ignoring him, she continued, "Don't ask me that. I stay awake at night, imagining you dead. I can't -"

"- I love you too."

Then, they were laughing and kissing and crying. The sun dipped under the clouds, taking the warmth away, but they didn't notice. A weight lifted from her chest as she held Harry. Not caring about anyone who might see them, they made new memories.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [whiffingbooks](https://whiffingbooks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
